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Background and objectives The treatment of chronic illnesses requires health care professionals (HCPs) to master several nontechnical skills to meet patient care needs. This article aims to describe the rationale and the inductive process through which a self-assessment tool for the nontechnical skills of hemophilia teams was conceived, developed, and tested. Methods Starting from an explorative analysis of hemophilia HCP work experiences, the process followed 3 phases: an in-depth analysis of hemophilia HCP skills; the questionnaire development; and a pilot study. Results Using the voice of HCPs as a starting point, the tool proved to be able to identify precise cross-professional and intercultural challenges as well as related required and/or acquired skills in the hemophilia field. Conclusion The proposed tool may contribute to providing HCPs with strategic knowledge to successfully perform everyday practices, to improve the effectiveness of hemophilia teams and the care model adopted by their centers, and to implement intercultural research in this field. It may be used to propose ad hoc training courses targeted by challenge, in order to fill the major gaps reported by the teams, or targeted by medical specialty or country (and therefore health care system) specificity.

BackgroundThe recognition of a symptom is needed to initiate a decision to engage in a behavior to ameliorate the symptom. Yet, a surprising number of individuals fail to detect symptoms and delay in addressing early warnings of a health problem.PurposeThe aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that symptom recognition mediates the relationship between monitoring for and management of symptoms of a chronic illness.MethodsA secondary analysis of existing cross-sectional data. A sample of 1,629 patients diagnosed with one or more chronic conditions was enrolled in the United States (US) (n = 407), Italy (n = 784) and Sweden (n = 438) between March 2015 and May 2019. Data on self-care monitoring, symptom recognition, and self-care management was assessed using the Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory. After confirming metric invariance in cultural assessment, we used structural equation modeling to test a mediation model where symptom recognition was conceptualized as the mediator linking self-care monitoring and self-care management with autonomous (e.g., Change your activity level) and consulting behaviors (e.g., Call your healthcare provider for guidance).ResultsSymptom recognition mediated the relation between self-care monitoring and autonomous self-care management behaviors (β = 0.098, β = 0.122, β = 0.081, p < 0.001 for US, Italy, and Sweden, respectively). No mediation effect was found for consulting self-care management behaviors.ConclusionOur findings suggests that symptom recognition promotes autonomous self-care behaviors in people with a chronic condition. Self-care monitoring directly affects consulting self-care management behaviors but not through symptom recognition. Further research is needed to fully understand the role of symptom recognition in the self-care process.

An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to evaluate the existing evidence of Tai Chi as a mind-body exercise for chronic illness management. MEDLINE/PubMed and Embase databases were searched from inception until March 31, 2019, for meta-analyses of at least two RCTs that investigated health outcomes associated with Tai Chi intervention. Evidence of significant outcomes (P value < 0.05) was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. This review identified 45 meta-analyses of RCTs and calculated 142 summary estimates among adults living with 16 types of chronic illnesses. Statistically significant results (P value < 0.05) were identified for 81 of the 142 outcomes (57.0%), of which 45 estimates presenting 30 unique outcomes across 14 chronic illnesses were supported by high (n = 1) or moderate (n = 44) evidence. Moderate evidence suggests that Tai Chi intervention improved physical functions and disease-specific outcomes compared with nonactive controls and improved cardiorespiratory fitness compared with active controls among adults with diverse chronic illnesses. Between-study heterogeneity and publication bias were observed in some meta-analyses. © 2020 Elsevier Inc.

Background: Self-care refers to behaviors that individuals adopt to prevent or maintain the stability of an illness (self-care maintenance), to monitor signs and symptoms (self-care monitoring), and to respond to signs and symptoms of an illness exacerbation (self-care management). A generic measure of self-care, the Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory, based on the Theory of Self-Care of Chronic Illness, was developed for use in individuals with any number and type of chronic conditions. Objective: The current study investigated the measurement equivalence of the Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory in individuals from three different cultural groups. We were interested in determining if Italians, Swedes, and Americans interpret the measure in a conceptually similar way. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 1629 patients, 784 recruited in Italy, 438 in Sweden and 407 in the United States. Self-care (self-care maintenance, self-care monitoring and self-care management) was measured with the Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory. A multi-group confirmatory factor analytic approach was used to assess the equivalence of the measures across the three countries. Configural, metric, scalar and strict invariance were tested through a series of nested models where increasingly stringent equality constraints were posited. Results: Participants were mostly males (56.3%), older adults (69.8%) and had at least two chronic conditions. Results indicated that three out of four measurement equivalence levels were partially or totally supported in all three of the Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory scales. The partial scalar invariance level was reached for self-care maintenance [chi(2)(50)=63.495, p = 0.095; RMSEA =0.022, p = 0.999, 90% CI= 0.000 0.038; CFI =0.981; TLI =0.977; SRMR =0.036], self-care monitoring [chi(2) (22)=28.770, p = 0.095; RMSEA = 0.024, p = 0.978, 90% CI =0.000 0.046; CFI= 0.996; TLI=0.995; SRMR= 0.054], and self-care management [chi(2) (51)=91.334, p = 0.001; RMSEA =0.048, p = 0.576, 90% CI =0.031 0.063; CFI = 0.949; TLI= 0.937; SRMR = 0.047 ] scales. Conclusions: These findings suggest that patients in the three countries used an identical cognitive framework or mental model when responding and used the 1-5 Likert response scale in an almost identical way, almost without bias. In spite of sociocultural differences, patients in these countries seem to share the same fundamental view of self-care. The results of the Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory will be comparable in these countries. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Funding Agencies|Center of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship (CECRI) , Rome, Italy; National Institute for Nursing ResearchUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) [1R01NR018196]; Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Doctoral Fellow, Research on Vulnerable Women, Children and FamiliesUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA [T32NR007100]

Background Schizophrenia is a complex illness in which genetic, environmental, and epigenetic components have been implicated. However, recently, psychiatric disorders appear to be related to a chronic inflammatory state, at the level of specific cerebral areas which have been found as well impaired and responsible for schizophrenia symptomatology. Hence, a role of inflammatory mediators and cytokines has been as well defined. Accordingly, the role of an acute inflammatory phase protein, the C-reactive protein (CRP) has been recently investigated. Objective The objective of the present study is to evaluate how PCR may represent a biomarker in schizophrenia, i.e. correlated with illness phases and/or clinical manifestation and/or psychopathological severity. Methods A systematic review was here carried out by searching the following keywords ((C-reactive protein AND ((schizophrenia) OR (psychotic disorder))) for the topics 'PCR' and 'Schizophrenia', by using MESH terms. Results An immune dysfunction and inflammation have been described amongst schizophrenic patients. Findings reported elevated CRP levels in schizophrenia, mainly correlated with the severity of illness and during the recrudescent phase. CRP levels are higher when catatonic features, negative symptomatology and aggressiveness are associated. CRP levels appeared not to be related to suicidal behaviour and ideation. Conclusion CRP and its blood levels have been reported higher amongst schizophrenic patients, by suggesting a role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Further studies are needed to better understand if CRP may be considered a biomarker in schizophrenia.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess the narratives from the recalled accounts of cataplexy attacks of patients with narcolepsy type 1 (NT1). METHODS: Twenty-two drug-naive adult patients meeting the International Classification of Sleep Disorders criteria for the diagnosis of NT1 referring to the Narcolepsy Center of the University of Bologna in the year 2017 underwent a semistructured interview focusing on their personal experiences during the cataplectic attacks. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed by thematic analysis of elementary contexts using T-LAB software. RESULTS: The thematic analysis performed on the entire body text showed 3 clusters that explained 36.2%, 34.1%, and 29.7% of the variance, respectively: a cluster related to situations that trigger attacks of cataplexy, a cluster to bodily sensations, and another control strategies during episodes. The thematic content highlighted a tendency to disregard emotional experiences, thus affecting the ability to name, recognize, and regulate critical emotions. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that patients with NT1 spoke of their cataplectic attacks in terms of self-reported bodily experiences, trigger situations, and their management. Therefore, patients may have developed strategies of symptom management focused on emotion avoidance and/or inhibition. CITATION: Franceschini C, Fante C, Folli MC, et al. Giving a voice to cataplectic experience: recollections from patients with narcolepsy type 1. J Clin Sleep Med. 2020;16(4):597–603.

Our aims were to compare the psychosocial functioning of a sample of adults with beta-thalassaemia major to that of a control sample and to examine the protective role of quality of relationship with parents during adolescence and perceived quality of care. A total of 85 Italian beta-thalassaemia major participants and 73 controls completed an ad hoc questionnaire. Compared with controls, beta-thalassaemia major participants did not differ on relationships with significant others and coping strategies. Beta-thalassaemia major participants reported higher scores on job satisfaction, self-esteem and self-description. The relationship with parents during adolescence and the perceived quality of care significantly predicted higher well-being and psychosocial functioning.